East and Southeast Asian hominin dispersal and evolution: A review

Abstract

East and Southeast Asia have served as significant habitats for diverse hominins for more than one million years. This has been demonstrated by numerous studies over the past decade that have reported new discoveries, ages, morphological evidence, and ancient biomolecules from fossils. This has revolutionized our understanding of their evolution and dispersal. However, the existing literature lacks a comprehensive overview that combines insights from different scientific disciplines that are needed to address the still-uncertain or contentious aspects of this field. Here, we provide a synthesis of the timing and distribution of the different hominins that lived in East and Southeast Asia. We then review two biomolecular methods, ancient proteomics and sedimentary ancient DNA, which hold great promise for revealing hominin history in this area.